The Journey Ends at Home: Ignacio Correas IV Announces Retirement

At 65, the Argentine horseman who found major success with Blue Prize, Doña Bruja, Kasaqui, and Didia has decided to call time on his training career and return home

Ignacio Correas llegará a Buenos Aires en noviembre / TURF DIARIO

By Diego H. Mitagstein

After nearly a quarter-century of writing a story built on effort, humility, and triumph in the United States, Ignacio Correas IV has decided it’s time to close the curtain. At 65, the Argentine-born trainer—who made a lasting impact on American racing after first making his mark in his home country—announced he will retire at the end of 2025 and return permanently to Argentina.

“I was very lucky. I never dreamed I’d have the career I’ve had,” Correas said, his voice laced with emotion. “If, when I arrived, someone had told me I’d work hard, have 20 horses, and make a living from this, I would’ve been more than happy.”

The racing world will always remember him for one magical afternoon at Santa Anita Park in November 2019, when Blue Prize unleashed her finest performance to win the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. That victory was the crowning moment of a journey filled with challenges, patience, and success earned through relentless hard work. But his story started many years—and many miles—away.

The Correas family has been steeped in racing since 1872. Ignacio grew up surrounded by horses, dreaming—like so many—of becoming a jockey. But his height and build soon redirected his path. He was part of the formidable family operation at Haras Las Ortigas, and spent time learning the ropes in Brazil, France, and Argentina, first as a groom and eventually as a trainer, obtaining his license in 1984. His silks quickly became a fixture at Palermo and San Isidro, until Argentina’s economic instability prompted a reinvention.

In 2001, with little in the way of a safety net, Correas relocated to the U.S., aided by Diane Perkins, a family friend and owner of both Wimborne Farm and Haras San Francisco de Pilar. He started from scratch. From overseeing 40 horses in Argentina to working for others in the States, he filled any role necessary—assistant, groom, exercise rider, even veterinary technician. He slept little, traveled often, and never stopped dreaming. Every job along the way was a lesson.

From 2003 to 2009, he worked for Bill Currin in California, before stints with Southern Equine in Louisiana and Sagamore Farm in Maryland. The turning point came in 2015, when, at age 56, he launched his own stable—with just one horse. Once again, Perkins was there when it mattered most, claiming a modest $25,000 mare so Correas could get started.

That same year came Kasaqui (Lasting Approval), a gray Argentine import who had shown little at home but flourished under Correas’s care. He became a Grade I performer, finishing second in the GI Arlington Million and winning the GII Wise Dan S., sparking a streak of high-level results that would define Correas’s U.S. legacy.

Then came Blue Prize, Doña Bruja (Storm Embrujado), Didia (Orpen), Le Da Vida (Gemologist), Mufasa (Practical Joke), and many others—horses that carried the Argentine school of training into the American mainstream and often succeeded at the highest level.

All told, his runners have won 297 races and earned over $20 million in purses in North America. But more than stats, Correas leaves behind a legacy of integrity, quiet dedication, and a profound love for the horse.

“Training is a lifetime of learning,” he once said. “I always watched other trainers, trying to understand what they were doing, to learn something more. There are a thousand ways to reach the winner’s circle, and all of them are valid.”

In a time when global racing needs more inspiring stories and fewer raw numbers, the journey of Ignacio Correas IV stands as one of the noblest. He steps away with his head held high, a suitcase full of memories, and a heart ready to beat again on the soil that first shaped him. Argentina awaits him with open arms. Truthfully, he never stopped belonging.